


What Gets Stared Into Stares Back

by orphan_account



Category: What Gets Stared Into Stares Back
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 21:46:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16626998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: World War Three left sparse life devastated. Nuclear radiation was abundant and corpses were scattered like stars in a black sky. For a group of kids though, this wasn't 'tragic' or anything out of the norm. They were born into war and know nothing other than what it was and the effects of it. They aren't sad, they don't see themselves as victims, they only have a few things in mind: one's survival and one's companion's survival.





	What Gets Stared Into Stares Back

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! Please read this first chapter of my story. If you like, comment something nice. I have a ego that inflates when someone says good things about my work. On the other hand, if you hate this, leave something nice anyways (but actually, tell me if I need to work on any aspect of my writing, all feedback will be taken into account!). Anyways, if you like a good post-apocalyptic setting and kids living in a anarchist world, you won't regret reading this. You know what, maybe you'll regret this deeply. Now I'm starting to regret posting this even though I'm writing this before I'm posting it. Now I've said too much for the beginning notes. Now I'm rambling. Fuck.  
> *SCREAMS INTERNALLY*

A song was sounded over the speaker system, waking everyone. They all dressed themselves and made their way to the living room for breakfast. The first one there was Colin, a latino boy who just became the ripe age of thirteen a month ago. He had long hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. He wore black rimmed glasses and a black long-sleeved shirt with a pair of light jeans. Once he found the pancake mix in the pantry, he knew what he was bound to do for the rest of the morning.   
Driven by the smell of butter, next to come down was Asher. He was rather pale for a Indian, and dressed more like he was from a ghetto. He was the second oldest, being fourteen, but sure didn’t act like it. Being rather immature, he found himself in trouble more often than not. To his credit though, he was the most selfless and generous, the others were happy to have him.  
“Whatcha doin’?” he started.  
“Your mom” Colin snickered.  
“You just got ROASTED!” yet another member decided to join in on the complimentary breakfast. Veronica is probably the most unstable of the bunch. She hasn’t quite gotten the hang of social interaction. No one really knows what’s going on in her head. Once, she hit Asher in the leg with a lead pipe and died laughing when he crumpled to the floor with the face of someone who just got their leg broken. Though she did prove useful when she fixed the generator after it was doused with water by her seven year old sister in an attempt to clean it. So they decided to keep her for good measure.  
“Jesus Vee, you scared the crap outta me!” Asher exclaimed.  
“Could you be any louder?” said a voice from the stairs leading to the living room. This was Ryder, a fifteen year old ginger dotted with freckles. His wavy hair was just long enough to cover the tops of his eyes, partially covering his viridescent eyes.   
“If you want me to!” giggled Veronica.  
“Ooh pancakes!” cried a clumsy figure stumbling down the steps. Anastasia is a very unique child, for she has a special talent with firearms and knives. She had learnt these skills when she was with her parents, who were drug addicts. Though a dark childhood was in her past, she was the most joyful of the group, her joy becoming part of her character when she used a handgun to shoot two bullet right into her parents’ weakening hearts. Quite the character isn’t she?  
The last one to come down for breakfast was Chance. Her social rank as leader got her respect from the rest of the clique. It also may have been her tallness that the others admired. She was usually quiet, until they find themselves in a problematic situation, then she becomes military chief. She smiled at everyone and they smiled back, setting a peaceful mood for the reset of the morning.   
“Hey Colin, did you check up on our supplies yet? It’s almost the end of the month.” asked Asher.  
“Not yet, do you want to do it with me later today?” he said.  
“Sure, it’s not like I had anything else to do anyway”  
“Hey can I come with you guys? I haven’t been down there in like… forever!” chimed Veronica, who was munching on a requested undercooked pancake that was oozing batter from the inside.  
“I’m not sure it’s a good idea Vee, it’s pretty dark down there and it reeks like Satan took a shit in there” remarked Colin.  
“Dang it, I was hoping I might catch some mutant spider that found its way into the granola bars” she said.  
“Tell you what,” said Asher.   
“if we find something mutant or abnormal, I’ll try to catch it and bring it back to you. Sound good?”  
“It sounds like a suicide if you ask me” said Ryder, who was passing down plates with towers of pancakes atop them.  
“What do you know about suicide? All you do is type really fast on computers and make little tech gizmos.” Anastasia remarked.   
“Hey! Who was the one that made your teddy bear say, ‘I love you!’ and ‘you’re my best friend!’ huh?” Ryder said defensively. After a few minutes of playful bickering and batter hitting the pan, Asher and Colin took off to check on the supplies. They walked down a hallway with flower wallpaper and flickering light bulbs. It looked as if two twin girls would appear and chant, “come play with us.” At the end of the eerie hallway was a spiral staircase descending into darkness. The boys pulled out their flashlights from canvas crossbody bags and started down the steps. Nothing but the clanking of their feet hitting the metal slabs could be heard in the suffocating darkness. 

Back at the living room, Chance was fixing some coffee for herself. She and Ryder were going to send a signal around the area after her coffee. They were looking for a friend of theirs who used to live near them before the third world war. They sent out signals using communication technology, similar to texting and emailing, differing only by the fact that theirs can be used without a internet connection. So anyone near them with some form of a computer or phone will get their message. Sending signals wasn’t something uncommon for them. Most of them did it at least once for fun. In fact, the signal sending was the main way they found each other. After the group of nuclear bombs went off over the course of a few days, not much life was left. Families had hid in their smaller bunkers, most of which were poorly built. The parents acted as shields when the bombs started, and they died for it. It wasn’t in vain though, because those children lived through. Ryder, who was in the bunker while the bombs went off, decided to send the first signal. It reached the children who had smartphones and gave them directions to the bunker. That’s how Asher, Chance, Colin, Veronica and Ana found Ryder’s parents’ bunker. His parents were well prepared for the war, stocking up on food, water, batteries, tools, basically anything that you’d need. Unfortunately, they were out letting people know about their bunker when the bombs started to go off. Ryder was devastated, but slowly, as the kids started coming to his bunker, he forgot his sadness and thought he moved on. 

At last, they reached a concrete floor and a metal door with a lock around it.   
“Do you have the key?” Asher asked.  
“I thought you’d bring it”   
“No worries, I have a lock picking kit in my bag” Asher said as he started to dig around in his satchel.  
“Do you carry that around you always? Seems unnecessary.” Colin said.  
“It’s more useful than you’d think” he replied while kneeling down to start picking.  
“Got it”   
They pulled open the heavy door and walked inside the cool concrete storage room. As they waved their flashlights around, stocks of canned food and jugs of water could be seen.   
“Is this all?” Colin asked, slightly alarmed.  
“This could last us maybe a few months, then we’re gonna starve.”  
“I didn’t realize we were this low. Someone has to go out there.” Asher said with dreadful realization. They were both quiet for awhile, the only acknowledgement the other was there was from their flashlights.   
“How to we chose which one to go outside this time? Rock paper scissors?” Colin said, breaking the silence.   
“Let’s go back upstairs and see if anyone wants to go first.” he said. They both started to make their way out, making sure to lock the door again before hitting the steps.

“What?!”  
“You heard me, someone has to go out there” Asher tried to say calmly.  
“How do we chose which one to go…?” Chance asked nervously.   
“We were hoping one of you guys would want to go.” Colin said, looking around at anxious faces. After a few moments of silence, a voice arose.  
“I’ll go.” They all turned to look at Asher.  
“I’ve done it before, I can do it again” he said boldly.  
“But that’s why you shouldn’t go again, remember when your suit tore? You were bedridden for weeks” Chance said.  
“Maybe I should go because of that. It makes me more expendable right?” he said jokingly. The others looked at the floor.  
“Don’t act like that, I’ll be fine” Asher assured everyone.   
“It’s not decided. We’ll talk later.” Chance said, walking out of the room. She stalked to her room where Ryder quickly followed. She sat on the bed and pushed her hands on her face while letting out a sigh. He sat next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.   
“Hey...” he hesitated.  
“I know it’s not the best time, but I need to show you something” he said, pulling out a small, phone-like gadget.   
“I built this a while ago but kept it charged in case. It’s a radar, whenever a change in heat comes within 50 miles of us, a little blue dot appears. Here, you can see there’s multiple dots in that little area at the edge” he said, pointing at the edge of the radar.  
“Wait, are those Nerons then?” Chance asked, becoming concerned.   
“I’m afraid so, and they’re coming directly toward us, inching closer, as if they know we’re here.”  
“Well then they must know” Chance said, her anxiety worsening.  
“I don’t know what to tell you, we haven’t been doing anything out of the ordinary”  
“This means that if we’re to get supplies, someone has to go now.”   
“I’m sorry Chance” Ryder said. She got up and walked down the steps to tell Asher. She told him to pack his bag soon and head out in as little time as he could. He followed orders, and within twenty minutes, he was kissing everybody goodbye. Ryder helped him into his hazmat suit and went with him up the steps to ground level.  
“Some bunder your parents had huh?” Asher started.  
“How many steps till surface?” Asher said, out of breath.  
“You know, we had a gym you could’ve used to get into better shape” Ryder said kiddingly.  
“Hey! *breath* What are you talking about? Round is a shape!” Asher said defensively. Ryder forced a laugh, trying so hard to make any light of the situation. The staircase came to a end when Ryder pointed a flashlight at the metal trapdoor above them. There was a silence between them.  
“Tell the others I love them, and know that I love you too.” Asher said, looking Ryder in the eye.  
“I’m gonna miss you Ash” Ryder pulled them both into a hug.  
“Alright,” Asher said, letting go of Ryder. He unlocked the trapdoor and pulled himself up. There was a room above the door made with thick lead walls, so anyone at the trapdoor wouldn’t be exposed to the radiation. After one more intimate look, the trapdoor was closed and Ryder was left in the darkness. He walked down the steps and took notice to a few things he ignored: the walls made of dirt were so cold, and the lights weren’t flickering like most in the bunker. The steps were coated in small pebbles so there was friction between them and the shoes on it, and the rails were already starting to rust, evident by the change in color and bumps around the bolts screwed in.  
When he reached the bottom, everyone was waiting for him. He assured them that Asher should be back within two days, that the store wasn’t that far away, that he had his trusty truck with him to protect him. Though he had a nagging feeling that prevented him from believing those things he said. He shook it off, thinking he was just worried, and carried on with his day. Once the time for sleep came, he turned and tossed in his bed, but eventually dozed off.


End file.
